


pepper

by ieroceans



Series: crenny drabbles [1]
Category: South Park
Genre: Boys Being Boys, Fluff, Gay, M/M, Slow Build, also being awkward
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-26
Updated: 2016-12-26
Packaged: 2018-09-12 11:03:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9068818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ieroceans/pseuds/ieroceans
Summary: prompt: sleeping on the floor in a sleeping baglots of fluff, no actual sleep(drabbles)





	

**Author's Note:**

> takes place in grade 11

I'm turning away from Stan and co. when something snags my jacket sleeve. It's a chubby, calloused hand. I spin around to face Kenny McCormick, of all people. He looks scared, like I may slap him in the face the moment he opens his mouth.  
"I was wondering if you'd let me spend the night at yours. Tonight." He shrugs, trying to look like my answer won't matter. But with the way his friends are gawking, it does matter.  
I sigh. Up until recently, we were pretty much mortal enemies. Then I spent some time with him and learned that he's not all bad. I still don't understand him, far from it. But I can be charitable. "Uh, okay."  
He swipes at his nose with his parka sleeve. "Okay. See you after school."  
I turn away from him, mumbling that I'll be late to english, just so I don't have to look at those freckles and eyes like the wide open summer sky or a tropical beach's waves.  
***  
At the end of the day, I drag my feet and nearly get cold ones before actually showing up at my car. Kenny is leaned against the hood, looking nervous. His cheeks are covered in the constellations I count at night. I bite my lip harshly when he grins that grin of his and aims it at me. It's the kind of grin that makes me think he's inexplicably important.  
"Are you just going to gape at me all night?" Kenny snickers when I don't budge from where I've come to a halt.  
I shake my head and shove past him to the driver's seat. I stick the keys in the ignition and twist them till the radio emits staticky music. I put the only CD I've got in the car (a mixtape from when Tweek and I were friends and more) in its slot, being careful to skip songs one and two. The third song is called pepper and Kenny pokes his head in the window, smiling.  
"This is a good song," he informs me, as if I didn't know.  
"It is. But you better get in here or I'll leave without you and you won't hear much more of it."  
He pulls the door open and climbs into the passenger seat. He drops his backpack at his feet and shuts the door. "This isn't the album, is it?"  
"Nope, but I own the whole thing and it's floating around my room somewhere," I leave it like that so he can ask to borrow the thing if he wants, but I don't have to go through the awkwardness of offering.  
He stares out the window with chapped lips pursed. "That's cool."  
I turn the key in the ignition again and soon, I am pulling out of the school parking lot. Gibby Hanes sings, "you never know just how you look through other people's eyes." I wonder what Kenny is seeing in me right now.  
"Do you have a computer?" Kenny questions after a while.  
"Why?" I shoot back automatically. I already know I'll let him use it to burn the album or write a paper or whatever.  
He pushes some wayward hair out of his eyes to smile at me, almost shy. "I have a paper due yesterday."  
"Since when do you do papers?" I tease lightly, turning onto my street.  
Kenny shrugs. "I gotta stay in school. Mackey said he'd get me expelled if I didn't turn the thing in." His expression and body language radiate shame.  
I stop the car in front of my house, but I let the music play on for a moment. "Okay, yeah. Want the album too, I can burn it for you."  
_I can taste you on my lips and smell you in my clothes._  
He opens the passenger door and beams at me, leaning his head against the doorjamb. He looks happy.  
"Yeah, thanks Tucker." He slams the door shut and heads for the house.  
I pull the keys out of the ignition, slam the driver's door, and follow him.  
***  
"You have poptarts?" Kenny is scanning around my kitchen with the wide eyes of a kid in a candy store. Or on Christmas morning. He's that fucking excited over pizza bagels and poptarts. This is something I don't think I can understand about him.  
I open the fridge and grab a can of pop. "And pop, chips, bread; yes we have food."  
He twists his face up into a scowl. "Look, I don't expect you to understand. Just don't be a dick about it, okay?" He snags the cold can from my hands and pops it open.  
"Yeah, okay. You want poptarts?" I move past him to find the box.  
He gives me a hopeful look. "And pizza bagels?"  
I can't help but grin as I get the food out. "Okay, okay." _But only for you. _

"You're cheating!" Kenny bursts, jumping up and throwing a pillow at me head. It misses. Underneath that scowl, he's laughing. I can see it in his eyes.  
My stomach turns when I glance up and see him – half laughing, half scowling and looking like this place doesn't deserve him. I snap a Polaroid of him.  
He doesn't exactly stop chuckling, but suddenly he's a deer caught in the headlights. "What was that for?"  
I shrug as nonchalantly as I can with him staring at me like he is. I consider telling the truth, wonder how he'll react. A thousand scenarios play through in my mind. The majority of them don't end well. I open and close my mouth like a fish out of water. I mentally berate myself for being too old for this kind of bullshit. I need to just man up and tell him, then be brave enough to face his reaction. After all, he's just a boy.  
The Polaroid is in my hands and he looks beautiful – a breathtaking frame of windblown blond waves, blue eyes, freckled cheeks. I sigh. "Because you looked good."  
He settles down next to me, peers over my shoulder at the photo. "You like photography?"  
"Yeah. I... I'm thinking that my art is what will get me the fuck out of South Park," I admit, almost bashfully. I stare at his hands when he takes the Polaroid from me.  
He grins at me again. "You're good. And you're probably the first person to take a flattering photo of me." His head is resting on my shoulder and he's still acting as if this is a normal occurrence for the two of us. "So thanks."  
I'm breathless and dopey and he is the exact opposite. I want him so badly. "Yeah, no problem. Although I'm not sure it's possible to make you look bad," I tell him.  
He wraps one arm around my shoulders and buries his face in my neck. "That was smooth, Tucker. Wanna be my boyfriend?"  
"Okay McCormick, okay," I confirm languidly.

**Author's Note:**

> hope you enjoy + i look forward to posting more things like this!!


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